The OUTfront Campaign of Amnesty International, and more specifically Amnesty-Houston, is dedicated to being proactive and informing about GLBT human rights abuses and advances around the world.

OUTfront Report September, 2008:

1) Brazil congress rejects adoption by gay couples

Brazil's lower house of Congress has rejected part of a pending adoption law that would have allowed gay couples to adopt children. A Wednesday statement from the Chamber of Deputies says a measure giving gay couples the right to adopt was withdrawn because federal law doesn't recognize same-sex civil unions. A proposal granting same-sex couples the same rights as married heterosexuals has stalled in Brazil's Congress for more than 10 years, prompting some states to take their own actions. Southern Rio Grande do Sul state has permitted same-sex civil unions since 2004, and a Sao Paulo state court allowed a gay couple to adopt a 5-year-old girl in late 2006.
The current adoption bill now returns to Brazil's Senate for further debate.

2) Argentina grants gay couples partner pensions

ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- In a nationwide measure, Argentina has granted gay couples the right to collect the pensions of their dead partners. The National Social Security Administration's director is to sign the resolution on Tuesday, and it will become law upon publication the following Wednesday. It requires that same-sex couples show they have lived together for at least five years. Maria Rachid, president of the Buenos Aires-based Argentine Federation of Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals and Trans, said she has been fighting for this change for a decade. She credited the government of President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner for creating the environment in which such a change could take place. "Now we have a government that's more open, that's disposed to listening to our demands, and that's beginning to generate some changes," she said in a telephone interview from Buenos Aires.
But Hector Timerman, Argentina's ambassador to the United States, told CNN in Atlanta that it was not so much the influence of the current president as it is the changes that have occurred since Argentina emerged from the dictatorship years of 1976-1983. "For a Latin American country, it's an amazing story," he said, noting that things have become much more open in the past quarter century. Argentina has been reaping benefits from its stance, including serving as a popular destination for international gay and lesbian visitors, he said. "Nobody bothers them," he said. "Not even the church."
Still, the Catholic Church has long been the main opponent of granting partner rights to gays and lesbians. But church officials had muted their opposition to divorce after the former president, Raul Alfonsin, suggested holding a plebiscite on the matter in the 1980s, and realized they had little chance of winning this battle either, Timerman said.
Rachid agreed. "We pay little attention to the Catholic Church," she said, citing a poll that found most residents of the capital city of Buenos Aires favored allowing gays and lesbians to marry, despite the church's opposition. But plenty of work remains, Rachid said, citing her desire for gays and lesbians to be allowed to marry and the fact that civil unions for gays and lesbians are allowed in only a few cities in the country.
Andres Duque, director of New York-based Mano a Mano and a blogger on Latino gay issues, credited Argentina with being "the first one to jump to the gate in Latin America in terms of providing rights to same-sex couples." He cited the civil unions bill of 2002 in Buenos Aires -- the first Latin American city to pass one. But he criticized the effort as incomplete, citing the fact that the law does not allow for gays to adopt. As a number of Latin American countries have elected socialist leaders, the political landscape has become more favorable on a continent often associated with machismo and Catholicism, Duque said. For example, Ecuador is considering a change in its constitution that would grant rights to same-sex couples, including pension rights, health benefits and social security, he said. And leftist President Evo Morales is pushing for a prohibition against discrimination based on sexual orientation. In some districts of Mexico, including the capital, civil unions are allowed. "The nascent movement of LGBT rights in Latin America is just flowering right now," he said. Even Colombia, still among the most conservative countries in Latin America, is considering a same-sex civil-unions bill, he said.

3) Transgender Veteran Discrimination Suit Goes to Trial

A 25-year Special Forces veteran, who allegedly was rejected from a job after they learned she was transgender, gets her day in court. "It's been a bumpy road," said Schroer after the trial, "but I'm glad I'm on it." Diane Schroer stepped foot in court Tuesday in a discrimination lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union on her behalf. The ACLU says Schroer was refused a job at the Library of Congress researching terrorism after the library learned that Schroer is transgender.

"[They] said after a long and sleepless night, based on our conversation yesterday, we've determined you're not a good fit. You're not what we want," said Schroer. The superviser testified she was stunned and worried that Schroer would become a distraction to colleagues, would lose her military contacts and above all, would jeopardize her security clearance. "She has held, for 20 years, the highest level of security clearance and it has been renewed since she transistioned. There's no issue with security clearance here," said Matthew Coles with ACLU. Schroer says the library violated a federal law's ban on sex discrimination in employment practices. Title VII of the U.S. code of general and permanent laws may protect transgender people who are discriminated against because they do not conform to gender stereotypes.

A federal judge ruled back in November of 2007 that Schroer's lawsuit could go forward, two years after the ACLU brought the lawsuit on. U.S. District Judge James Robertson will preside over the trial in Schroer v. Billington, No. 05-1090. The Library of Congress is expected to argue Title VII doesn't mention protection of transgendered people, which means Schroer has no basis for a claim.